County eyes backup drinking water source

A tree branch overhangs Deer Point Lake. Bay County officials are looking at building a pumping station at the northern part of the lake.

Andrew P Johnson / The News Herald

By MATTHEW BEATON / The News Herald

Published: Sunday, December 2, 2012 at 06:05 PM.

SOUTHPORT — Bay County officials are undeterred in their search for a secondary potable water source and now have their sights set on building a pumping station at the northern part of Deer Point Lake.

The plans are preliminary right now, but assistant county manager Dan Shaw said the goal is to put a “second intake” in the northern part of the county where Econfina Creek enters Deer Point Lake. The pumping station would act as a backup drinking water source, something the county has long sought. Deer Point Lake is the county’s only source of drinking water.

The new plan would safeguard the county if a natural disaster, such as a hurricane, pushed saltwater over the dam and into the lake, Shaw said.

“We could draw water out up at the northern end before the saltwater got to it,” he said.

The plans are in the early stages and a series of steps must be taken to get the Northwest Florida Water Management District’s approval, Shaw said.

But the county is moving forward, and the commission will pass an amendment to its water supply master plan this month, Shaw said. Then, the water management district must approve amendments to its master plan.

It will take nine to 12 months to get the authorization needed to move forward, Shaw said; then comes engineering, contracting and construction.

SOUTHPORT — Bay County officials are undeterred in their search for a secondary potable water source and now have their sights set on building a pumping station at the northern part of Deer Point Lake.

The plans are preliminary right now, but assistant county manager Dan Shaw said the goal is to put a “second intake” in the northern part of the county where Econfina Creek enters Deer Point Lake. The pumping station would act as a backup drinking water source, something the county has long sought. Deer Point Lake is the county’s only source of drinking water.

The new plan would safeguard the county if a natural disaster, such as a hurricane, pushed saltwater over the dam and into the lake, Shaw said.

“We could draw water out up at the northern end before the saltwater got to it,” he said.

The plans are in the early stages and a series of steps must be taken to get the Northwest Florida Water Management District’s approval, Shaw said.

But the county is moving forward, and the commission will pass an amendment to its water supply master plan this month, Shaw said. Then, the water management district must approve amendments to its master plan.

It will take nine to 12 months to get the authorization needed to move forward, Shaw said; then comes engineering, contracting and construction.

“It’s hard to speculate,” Shaw said of the project’s timetable. “I would hope it’s in the next four to five years it’s done.”

But Shaw gave the caveat that the project is not a definite. There are plenty of hurdles, including several permits the county needs from the state and the water management district.

Also the pumping station would be located on water management district property, so that land would need to be transferred to the county.

“There’s a lot of different hoops we’re going to have jump through before we can get there,” Shaw said.

The county expects monetary support from the water management district, around $5 million, Shaw said, similar to the amount it would have received to drill wells in the northwest part of the county.

The well-drilling plan was nixed in September, after a judge issued an opinion against it due to environmental concerns and the water management district refused to approve it.

Shaw said the “preliminary, preliminary” estimate on the pumping station is $20 million. The county would bond the chunk not covered by the water management district. The bond would be repaid through utility revenue.

The county has been talking to the water management district about the plan and early discussions have been positive, Shaw said.

“Everything so far has been good,” he said.

Commission Chairman George Gainer said the water management district “recommended and suggested” the Econfina Creek area as the county’s secondary potable water source after its well-drilling plan was rejected. And he prefers the new plan.

“That’s better water than you can buy for a dollar a bottle,” he said.

Gainer said the county is looking at the idea “very hard.” He said getting the watermanagement district on board overcomes half the obstacles, and he believes the Florida Department of Environmental Protection won’t have issues with the plan either.

“We shouldn’t have much of a problem in knocking down the permits and selling the plan,” he said.

Gainer said the county wanted to go in this direction in the first place, but the state suggested drilling the wells. After the water management district refused approval, the county could have appealed the decision, but it chose not to because the water management district reintroduced the idea of using the Econfina Creek area, Gainer said.

“That’s what we really wanted to do in the first place,” he said.

Water management district spokeswoman Lauren Engel couldn’t give the organization’s level of support for the pumping station because no preliminary plans have been submitted. She said there’s only been conceptual discussion, but those talks are ongoing.